


Fly One More Time (Alternately The Phoenix)

by RavenWolf48



Series: Fly One More Time (or The Phoenix) [2]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, Multi, winged au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 07:04:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15334485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenWolf48/pseuds/RavenWolf48
Summary: Multi-Chapter version





	1. Chapter 1

Steven Grant Rogers always felt like his back was heavy.

When he was younger he would literally tip backwards and fall flat on his back. He felt like he would squish something but he could never figure out what. Bullies caught on quickly to his weakness and would simply tap his shoulder, cackling as he pin-wheeled his arms-trying to stay up-before falling flat on his butt.

There was only one time that didn't happen and that's when he met Bucky.

Steve was twelve at the time. He didn't have really any friends mostly because Artie bullied him and Artie was the popular kid in school. He also looked like a six year old so that might have something to do with it. And maybe the fact that he cared about his grades and his teachers loved him.

Steve was sitting down when it happened. Just quietly drawing on the rocks, hoping no one would notice him. Every once and a while he would see another kid getting bullied before a teacher turned their head and the bully would change into this nice ole kid, just prettily asking for whatever he was trying to steal earlier.

Steve didn't like bullies-but when he was being bullied, he couldn't find the fight to stand up for others.

And as he just about finished his drawing, a hand came in and swiped the pad off his lap and onto the muddy ground.

Steve cried out in alarm because gosh darn-it, that was his best picture yet!

But when he looked up at who did it, his voice died.

Artie was standing there, sneering. He stomped on the pad and hissed something at Steve but all Steve cared about was his pad. He tried to shove Artie off the pad but Artie just pressed harder and laughed.

"Hey!"

Steve scrambled away as the new kid walked over. He was about their age, maybe a little older and almost twice Steve's height. Steve felt miserable. He didn't know the new kid, but he was sure the new kid knew him. And that just didn't bode well for him-

"How about you back off, _ty malen'kiy kusok der'ma_?"

Steve stared at the kid who had puffed out his chest and glared at Artie. Artie, who had laughed and was about to ask the kid to do something-probably to help him get Steve off his back-froze.

"I-I, what?" Artie stuttered.

"I didn't realize someone like you could be sooo hard of hearing," the kid rolled his eyes and since he wasn't beating Steve up, Steve could hear this slight accent in his words. " _Vy khotite, chtoby ya povtoril eto po-russki_?"

Artie opened and closed his mouth.

The kid sighed. "I said back off." Faster than Steve could see, the kid was suddenly right up in Artie's face, giving him a look that if looks could kill, Artie would be a pile of ash. "Got it?"

Artie stumbled a bit but nodded rapidly and scampered off with his friends. The kid watched them go before scooping the pad up from the ground. He frowned, looking at the mud and dirt on it as he tried to scrape it off. He sighed.

"Sorry, _pank_ , I can't get much off it," and he handed it to Steve. Steve stared at him.

"You shouldn't say things like that," Steve blurted. He figure out where the accent came from and understood most of the words. The kid raised his eyebrows. "You called Artie a little piece of..." Steve swallowed. That was a word that he could get soap in his mouth for.

The kid laughed. "You understand _russkiy_?" He smiled.

"Well," Steve slowly grabbed the pad from the kid but stayed on the side of the wall, not getting any closer. "Once I knew the accent, it was pretty easy to translate."

The kid beamed. "I like you. I'm-"

"Bucky!" A girl who was maybe two-ish inches shorter than the kid ran up to him. " _Ya iskal tebya, ty idiot. Moya mama i papa khoteli znat', nuzhna li vam poyezdka."_ The girl spit rapid fire Russian at him before turning to look at Steve. " _O, kto eto?_ " The kid laughed.

"This is just someone I'm meeting," the kid told the girl. "He understand Russian. Also, My name is James Barnes-everyone calls me Bucky though. This is my girlfriend, Natalia Romonova." 'Bucky' leaned in a bit. "Be careful, she's not like other girls and she will kick you butt." Natalia swatted him.

"I won't kick your butt," she promised. "What's you name, _malen'kiy_?"

"I'm Steve Rogers." Steve knit his eyebrows. "How old are the two of you exactly?"

"She's fifteen, and I just turned fifteen yesterday," Bucky said probably.

"Oh, well happy birthday,"

"Thanks Stevie," Bucky grinned. "Say, do you want to come with us?"

"Where?" Steve asked, still slightly suspicious. Even though, Natalia promised she wouldn't kick his butt, she still looked threatening, and even though Bucky didn't beat him up, he was wild and mischievous. Just by looking at him, you could tell.

Bucky snorted. "To my house of course. _Davay_! It'll be fun!" He clapped his hands and looked at Steve, almost pleadingly.

Steve tried to ignore the puppy eyes, but found he couldn't. "I'd like to, but I have to ask my ma."

Natalia snapped her fingers and Steve jumped. "Alright. Let's get to your mom's house." And she grabbed his hand.

* * *

 

After that, Natalia and Bucky became his best friends. They wouldn't go anywhere without him and they didn't abandon him-ever. Steve felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

As he grew older, he found he couldn't get much taller. According to his ma, it was because of all the sicknesses he had. Steve tried to make the most of it, even when the war started. He helped other people on the street, despite them not wanting his help and he fought back when people bullied him. Unlike what he did with Artie.

He almost applied for art school as Natalia was encouraging him to do, but then the war started.

Steve and Bucky dropped everything, both applying. Bucky was accepted, Steve rejected.

Over and over and over again.

Natalia kept his spirits up but Steve would always sneak out and continue to apply. Steve from Brooklyn. Steve from Chicago. Steve from Idaho. Steve from Ohio. Steve from New York. Over and over and over again.

But he was always rejected.

"You're like a chihuahua with anger issues," Bucky told him one day, after Steve came home from trying again. Steve, Bucky, and Natalia all lived in the same apartment which was pretty close to where Bucky would be deported if need be. He was still on call-for the 107th division-but the war hadn't needed him yet.

Steve snorted at the comment, but thought it was pretty accurate that night, looking down at himself.

* * *

 

He got in.

Steve Rogers from Brooklyn was offered a chance-only a chance-to fight for his country. Bucky was already over seas but he told Natalia and she was so happy for him. She was still upset that the only way she could get into the war was to be a nurse but once Steve signed up, she signed up as well-refusing to go anywhere except where he was.

As Steve was doing his training, she was off to the side, working with other people and working closely with Agent Carter.

Steve got whiplash about a day later when he found out that Agent Carter had told Natalia she could be an Agent like herself. Agent Peggy Carter put in a recommendation and after a display by Natalia that both Peggy and Steve watched, the Agency agreed to let her work with Ms. Carter, saying that Ms. Romonova was a good addition.

Steve was happy for Natalia and the next day, Peggy, Natalia, and Steve went to a store in Brooklyn where Steve was told that his 'chance' was getting into this program. For...something.

Steve wasn't sure because the man that offered him the chance-Abraham Erskine- didn't explain much about what he was offering Steve, just that he could be a soldier (Natalia freaked, thinking it would hurt Steve and scolded him for a good hour before Peggy assured her that it wouldn't hurt. Steve heard her mutter "hopefully" though).

A man named Howard Stark helped Erskine through the process of getting Steve in the container that would make him the world's first super soldier.

Steve entered and closed his eyes, praying for it not to hurt.

* * *

 

Observation 1: It hurt. It hurt like hell.

Observation 2: He was taller. Much taller.

And Observation 3: Everything felt better as soon as he stepped out of the container.

Natalia was instantly all over him, telling him that he had been screaming but Steve barely heard it. Peggy was staring at him and all around him loud voices calling out to each other n excitement- _they did it they did it they did it._

All around him the noise seemed amplified and it hurt so Steve focused on Erskine. He was shorter than Erskine before but now he was taller. Steve couldn't totally believe that he was that tall and Erskine was smiling at him proudly.

There was a flash in the corner of his eye and he realized that someone had talent he last of the serum. Steve called out and Erskine turned to the man.

Before anyone could do anything, Erskine was shot dead.

Steve had tried to chase the man. He caught him but the man killed himself in front of Steve's eyes. Steve went into shock because _he just ran halfway across Brooklyn and Holy Damn that was a long time for him to go without having an asthma attack._

When Steve came back, Colonel Chester Phillips turned him into a circus monkey-rallying the people of the US to fight for the war. Steve found it fun but Natalia found it humiliating. She went with Steve and never left his side, even when Peggy told her that the war would need someone like her.

He went around to different states and did different shows when Phillips decided to put him in the army base.

It didn't go the way he thought it would. Peggy caught him at the end of his show and told him and Natalia that they shouldn't be upset. They just lost more than half their men to enemy lines.

"The one-oh-seventh. The rest were killed or captured." Peggy looked at the group, ruefully. Natalia froze.

"The one-oh seventh?" She whispered and looked at Steve. Steve looked at her, wondering what she was talking about for a second when he remembered.

"Oh, shit," he swore and leaped to his feet, Natalia on his heels.

* * *

 

Bucky had been captured.

He wasn't here and Phillips said that the only option was that he was dead. Steve and Natalia refused to believe that and instead opted for going against the rules. They convinced Howard and Peggy to take them behind the lines where they snuck into the HYDRA camp.

Natalia freed soldiers as Steve ran to find Bucky. He found Bucky in an abandoned room, muttering his Sergeant name and strapped to a testing table. Quickly, Steve got them both out as the camp blew up around them.

They didn't make it out before seeing Johann Schmidt-the man that Erskine said was the first test trial. It didn't work and instead, Schmidt was left with a red skull face and a power-hungry surge for what he called 'peace'. Schmidt left after cutting Bucky and Steve's way out. But Bucky jumped across and then Steve, both leaving the burning building behind to find Natalia and the rest of the group.

* * *

 

They lost few soldiers.

Natalia had practically mauled Bucky when she saw him. There was some whooping and cat-calling and Steve gave a look mixed with back-off and yeah-they-are-cute to the other soldiers.

They went back to the camp where Phillips had really no choice but promote Steve to an actually fighting job. Phillips also gave him a new costume design, one more equipped for fighting. he also got a smooth metal America-style shield from Stark (He also realized that Peggy seemed to be developing a crush on him. Natalia found it cute but Steve found it disconcerting. He never really liked dames).

Now that he was ready to fight, Steve set out to find his own team.

The first two members were obviously Natalia and Bucky. He found other members of the one-oh-seventh that promised to help him. Dum Dum Dugan, Jim Morita, Junior Juniper, James Montgomery Falsworth, Gabe Jones, Jacques Dernier, Happy Sam Sawyer, and Pinky Pinkerton. They named themselves the Howling Commandos.

A few were skeptical of Natalia but Steve sent her in first and afterward they ended up calling her 'Flirting Death'. Natalia preferred Black Widow.

Steve and the Howling Commandos worked over the next few weeks to destroy every HYDRA base that Steve remembered from the map he saw when he rescued Bucky.

Steve thought it would be easy.

It wasn't.

* * *

 

They had ten left when they lost Natalia.

She disappeared in the fray and Bucky was distraught as he tired to hard to find her. Steve felt like he was breaking Bucky's heart when he told him that they probably took her.

Steve had to drag the kicking and screaming Bucky from the blown up base.

Both were crying that night.

* * *

 

They had three left when they lost Bucky.

Bucky had become more reckless-as if he wanted to die. He was more likely to run into a fight and practically loose his life in the process. Steve tried to tell him that maybe Natalia was still alive-that she was alright-but that just seemed to make things worse.

Steve and the Commandos found Zola on the train.

But Bucky fell into the white-tipped cavern below.

It was only Steve crying that night.

* * *

 

The mission was over.

Zola said they had every HYDRA base except one. That night, Steve and the Commandos broke in, driving Schmidt to his ship. Steve followed but lost the ship.

Luckily, Phillips and Peggy had caught up, giving him a lift to the plane. As the neared the ship, Peggy pulled him down and kissed him. She stared him hard in the eyes as she said, "Don't come back, idiot."

With a startling realization, Steve realized that she knew. She knew he didn't like her the way she did. Steve promised and jumped onto the ship.

The men there were easy to kill and they fell out of the plane.

Steve made his way to Schmidt who was holding the Tesseract, an object of ultimate power. Apparently the power was too much and Schmidt disintegrated.

Peggy sounded happy when she heard Steve voice but he told her that he had to land the Valkyrie in the water. He couldn't get it anywhere safe and there was nothing he could do.

He heard Peggy crying before he crashed into the water.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve woke up.

He was in what looked like a hospital. A window was opened, giving him a gentle breeze as he woke up. A woman came in and told him that he was fine and okay but the game that was playing on the radio was the one that he went to with Bucky and-

_The woman had wings._

Steve stumbled back, away from her and away from the room.

Everyone had wings.

Wings, ranging from eighteen feet to three feet. Wings that were blue, purple, red, orange, black, green-every color in the damn color wheel. Wings that spread out around him in alarm as he ran through the facility he found himself in.

Wings all around him as he ran outside into a strange new world that scared him. Wings everywhere he looked, flapping or tensed out. Spreading and relaxing.

He made it to an area where cars surrounded him. But cars that were more high tech when a man stepped out. His wings were like insect wings and were dark brown. He said his name was Nick Fury and that he had been asleep for almost seventy years.

When Fury lead him back inside, Steve warily asked about the wings. Fury looked at him, slightly surprised and asked when he started seeing them.

"Just this morning." Steve told him. Fury nodded slowly.

"Well look behind you Rogers." He noted. "Everyone has wings that reflect their souls."

Steve closed his eyes. He didn't want to look behind him but he did it anyway. He had brilliant goldn wings, about nine feet long.

The golden feathers spread into white feathers. He flapped them gently and they didn't make that much of a sound. Steve guessed that they were owl wings as owl wings were made to be silent.

Steve swallowed hard and continued to follow Fury to his new room in this place called SHIELD.

At least now he knew why he fell over when he was smaller. The wings must have been too big for him when he was younger.

* * *

 

After spending two weeks catching up on everything that had happened in the last seventy years, Steve felt pretty knowledgeable. Fury had told him that he was apart of a team of super humans designed to protect the world. The ones that had been recruited so far were Bruce Banner, Thor, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, and Tony Stark.

Steve remembered Howard and how much of an ass he was when he talked about his machines. He thought they were the most amazing things in the world and Steve felt that he was too arrogant and selfish. Steve really hoped he didn't have to deal with another Stark like that.

Steve was the first in the room and he stared at the ground most of the time, flicking his eyes up to look at the new people.

Clint Barton's wings were a dark brown and stretched out seven feet long. They were like hawk wings and that made sense because he was Hawkeye. Clint asked Steve if he could see them and Steve nodded. Clint nodded back and sat down next to who Steve guessed was Natasha Romanoff.

She looked familiar but she wore glasses and didn't seem to be looking at anything. Her wings were almost nine feet like Steve's and were a dark blood-red. She had red hair that was lighter than her wings and framed her face with curls. She had on a leather jumpsuit which Steve guessed was her suit.

Thor's wings were pure lightning and thirteen feet long. Bruce's were green wings that were more sharply angled. They were down and draped on the floor behind him because he slouched and looked around nervously. The wings seemed skittish as well and they looked damaged. They seemed to be about five feet long, the shortest in the group.

(Tony Stark never showed up.)

The wings didn't seem to bother anyone. They just were... _there_. (Later, Steve found that the whole team could see the wings and they seemed to look to him as the leader. Which Steve guessed would make sense. He was considered to be the first Avenger. That's what the team was called-the Avengers.)

Everyone seemed nice enough but Steve didn't interact. He stayed off to the side and just watched.

Clint and Natasha seemed the friendliest with each other and Thor was just happy to be around everyone else. He seemed to be a pretty happy-go-lucky-guy anyway. Bruce came by and talked to Steve for a little bit and told him that Thor was a god so he didn't know much about what he called 'Midgard's' customs.

Fury walked inside. "Agent Romanoff? Rogers? You might want to see this." He looked at both of them before walking out snappily.

Steve stood as Natasha was already on her way to the door. Natasha had froze a bit when she heard Rogers but kept walking towards the door. Steve jogged a bit to catch up with her wide stride and as they were at least twenty paces away from the door, she stopped him and ripped off her glasses.

"Steve?" She whispered.

Steve completely froze.

" _Natalia_?" Steve gaped.

Natalia grinned at him and hugged him tightly.

"Oh my god," she whispered. "When I escaped, I heard that you and Bucky were dead-I never thought you would-"

"Where were you taken?" Steve interrupted.

"To the Red Room," Natalia pulled away. "It's an organization that started before Hydra but Hydra joined it and when they captured me they sent me back there to complete the training that I was given before. I escaped when I was younger and found Bucky." She added, seeing the confused look on Steve's face.

Steve grinned. "Well, thank God you're okay."

"Do you think Bucky's alive?" She asked, hurriedly. "Was he with you?"

Steve's grin faded as they continued to walk. "He fell. When we had three missions left, he...he fell-sacrificing himself to save the mission. I-He's dead." Natalia stared at him, her mouth opening in shock.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"I should be the one that's sorry," Steve said bitterly. "He was your boyfriend and I couldn't save him-"

"He's your friend." Natalia shot back, opening the door that Fury had lead them too. Her voice went quiet. "You should care too-Bucky!"

Natalia shrieked when she entered the room.

It was a hospital room but more advanced than Steve had seen any hospital room. In the bed-sitting up, Bucky Barnes turned to look over at them. His wings--which startled Steve at first--spanned at the same length as Natalia's but one was bright blue while the other was a silver. The silver matched up with a metal arm that a man had been placing on him.

Natalia practically threw herself at him. He laughed and hugged her back tightly. The man that had been caring for Bucky, took a step back and went to the table behind him.

Steve found himself staring at the man.

He should be talking to Bucky and worrying about him but instead he was looking at the man who just put his tools away and headed out. He ignored Steve's gaze and stepped out the door before looking back.

"You remember everything I told you?" He asked. Bucky looked up at him.

"Yep," he said as Natalia pulled away.

"Good." The man glanced at Steve. "Make sure you do it or the arm will stiffen up and I really don't want to have to remake an arm. The first was bad enough..." he mumbled, walking away.

"Who was that?" Natalia frowned, looking at Bucky.

"Anthony Stark," Bucky moved the silver metal arm, wincing a bit. "He prefers Tony though."

"Iron Man?" Natalia guessed.

"He calls himself that too." Bucky noted. He looked at Steve. "So how did you end up here, Stevie-?"

"He doesn't have wings." Steve said loudly. He looked at Natalia and Bucky who froze, eyes widening. "Tony Stark doesn't have wings."

* * *

 

Anthony Edward Stark wasn't the same as Howard.

He wasn't as much of an ass as Howard but...he was still an ass.

The weird thing was though was that he only acted like an asshole around Steve. It was almost like Tony felt like he had to act different around Steve. He was nice enough to Bucky and Bruce-not so much anyone else but then again, he only did the absolutely necessary things with them.

According to Nick, Iron Man was a Secret Identity. Tony Stark was not known as Iron Man to the public-he was known as the quiet Stark who followed Virginia-Pepper-Potts around.

Iron Man was known as an Avenger-the second one to be specific-and the bodyguard of Pepper and Tony.

That was reinforced to the public when the Avengers moved into Stark Tower.

At the tower, pretty much everyone got into their own routines. At certain points in the day they would head down to the gym and train together. Bruce would join Tony in the lab a lot and often Clint perched above both of them, keeping an eye on them. Steve found him doing that to a lot of people.

Steve also found that he kept on staring at Tony whenever he was in the room. Tony would avoid him as much as possible and Natalia would tease him, saying that he likes Tony. Steve would go red and shake his head.

"He doesn't have any wings." Steve insisted that that was the reason that he kept staring at Tony. Bucky nodded while Natalia rolled her eyes.

It was weird that Tony didn't have any wings and it creeped Steve out every time Tony walked into the room. And it seemed like he was the only one with that problem.

So he avoided Tony as best as he could.

* * *

 

The Avengers' first fight was against Thor's brother Loki.

They destroyed almost half of New York but Stark Industries made a gracious donation to help the city rebuild. Later, they found that Loki had been mind-controlled by some alien named Thanos and the Chitauri army was his.

Thor pleaded with the Avengers to let Loki stay here on Midgard as he couldn't go back to Asgard. Since Steve didn't see him as a threat anymore, he asked everyone else and pretty much everyone except Clint was okay with Loki being locked up in the basement.

(Tony built him a room in the bottom of the tower. It was fitted to everything Loki wanted and helped his white dove wings that spanned at least ten feet stretch out. Tony also made sure that he couldn't escape.)

That same day, two other super heroes from downtown New York areas joined the Avengers.

One of them was a hero named Spider-Man. He wasn't wearing the best suit and took a shining to Steve and Tony right away. He seemed to adore both of them and even though Steve thought Tony might act arrogant, he didn't. Instead he adapted to Spider-Man. He let Spider-Man make him laugh and almost change him into a different man.

(Or maybe he was always that way)

The other was a man named Falcon. He was an army para-rescue. Apparently a high tech one as well because he had metal wings. He had been working with someone and was known as the Falcon in his neighborhood when he saw the Avengers and figured they could use some help.

(Rhodey-Tony's friend-had also joined the Avengers as War Machine. His wings were a soft brown color and spanned about three feet. They weren't as big or as impressive as his suit.)

Later, Steve found that Nick Fury had been looking to Falcon and Spider-Man. (He's also been looking at others but refuses to tell Steve.)

Falcon ended up being a man named Sam Wilson. Both being in the military, Steve and Sam bonded immediately. Turns out when he was born seeing wings. His own never fully grew so when he was offered the para-rescue, he took it. He replaced his wings with the metal ones he was given. (Sam was surprised to see the Iron Man suit open up to Tony Stark. He nearly jumped out of his pants while that just seemed to make Spider-Man like Tony even more.)

Fury then told Steve that Spider-Man's identity would be kept secret from the public and SHIELD. Steve asked why and Fury replied with the fact that Spider-Man wanted it that way. Fury left and Steve expected Spider-Man to take off his mask. Instead, he whispered something to Tony and they both left the room.

Steve raised his eyebrows to Natalia who was draped over Bucky. Natalia just shrugged in response and Bucky kept his eyes trained on the door that the two had left through.

When Tony came back, he looked like he was in shock. But he cleared his throat and got everyone's attention.

"So," he said slowly, clapping his hands. "Spidey wanted me to tell all of you that when you see him, you can't tell him to stop being a super hero. He's been doing this for a while, he can take care of himself so y'know...he doesn't need anything. So yeah. Here we go."

And he stepped back. There, standing a few feet behind Tony, was a completely different person than Spider-Man.

" _Der'mo_ ," Bucky swore. 

* * *

 

Spider-Man was fifteen.

Fucking _fifteen_.

After the shock wore off and when the Avengers caught their bearings, they asked Spider-Man some questions.

Steve found out that he was fifteen and that his name was Peter Parker. Peter was pretty much an A-plus student and hardly had to lift a finger to do good in school.

His parents had been killed when he was six and his aunt and uncle had taken him in (recently, his uncle Ben had died and he got a bit choked up about that but Tony gave him a one-armed hug).

He was injected with a radio active spider bite that gave him spider powers. He also claimed to Steve that he saw people's wings after he was bitten (Steve got worried when Peter told Tony as Tony showed no indication that he saw wings but Tony just nodded as if he understood).

Peter's wings were as fluttery as his personality. They were a flurry of different colors and seemed to change whenever he moved. They seemed to make him more hyper-active and Steve found that it was fun whenever Peter hung around with the Avengers. And that was only on the weekends because he still lived with his aunt but their weekends were always more exciting with Peter.

Steve asked Natalia what wings he had and Natalia responded with "Hummingbird" (Steve later looked up what a hummingbird looked like and how it moved and agreed that that was exactly what Peter was like).

* * *

 

"Well this was a horrible idea," Steve remarked, peering down at the explosion below him.

"This was your idea!" Bucky and Tony yelled at the same time. Peter burst into laughter through the comm.

Steve winced and sighed. "Looks like we're going in with a bang." He jumped down and he heard Tony sigh loudly.

"Is this what you had to deal with in the 1940s?" Tony asked Bucky.

"All the fucking time," Bucky grumped and jumped down after Steve.

The Avengers had found some maniac genius trying to prove that he was as good as Tony Stark by creating a 'suit of armor around the world'. Unfortunately for the Sokovian, his project backfired and his 'suit of armor' was now trying to kill the world.

"This guy's an idiot," Tony mumbled as he pounded down one of the Ultron Sentries (the backfired project's name and buddies that he created). "Love how he thought he could be as good as me-what do you think Pete! Did the guy succeed?"

"He did AMA-zing!" Peter responded back through the comms. Steve looked up above where the rest of the team should be, fighting on top of the city that was slowly rising into the sky.

"Cap," Tony grunted through the Iron Man suit. He was up above Steve and Bucky who were making sure that no Sentries got down to where they were. While they did that, Tony tried to find a safe way to bring down the city and maybe a way to turn Ultron off. "We've got a problem."

"When don't we?" Bucky snarked, throwing his hands in the air.

"The city won't come down without the powerhouse being shut down up there."

"Wanda and Clint are dealing with that." Steve called up. The two new recruits that they saved from HYDRA, Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, joined their side pretty easily. And it was good too, because both twins were powerful.

As a side note, Pietro also had hummingbird wings that allowed him and Peter to bond over something. Wanda's wings were osprey wings and both of the twins' wings were about six feet long. But both of their wings were looking sick-ish. Bruce deduced that they would be fine for now, but they needed to get rid of Ultron fast in order to make sure that they would live through whatever HYDRA did to them.

"Well," Tony grunted. "No matter what, that city won't come down safely. We need to get people out _faster_ -"

"I hear you, Tones-I hear you," Rhodey called in on the comms. "By the way, a giant machine just came in and the guy on board is Fury-"

"Thank God!" Bucky exclaimed as Steve touched the comm to talk to everyone.

"Avengers, we have a new mission. Get the civilians onto the SHIELD Helicarriers as fast as possible."

"But what about the city?" Peter asked worriedly.

"I'll pay for it," Tony assured him, turning levers and clogs to make sure that he could at least slow down the process before flipping a different switch that would force the ground to go the other way.

"You can pay for this much?" Wanda's accented voice drifted into the comm.

Before Tony could respond, Pietro interrupted, "Wanda, he's a billionaire. Of course he can pay for all of this."

Wanda snorted. "Oh right. Of course."

Tony was clearly pouting through the mask.

Peter seemed hear it as well because he laughed through the comm. Steve just shook his head.

"Get to work guys." He told them.

* * *

 

Ultron was destroyed.

It was a successful mission and almost all of the civilians were saved. Very few were killed but there were some casualties. Tony had sulked about that in his room for a bit before Peter managed to convince him to come out.

Steve didn't understand why Tony cared so much about everyone so he finally asked him why he acted so distraught when even one person died. Tony looked Steve in the eye and said, "Because they didn't have to die. Those are people who are just living their lives and it's not just villains who kill them and rip their families apart-it's us too. We attract those villains and it causes people to die." Tony wiped his mouth and looked at the ground. "That's why."

He walked away, leaving a stunned Steve behind.


	3. Chapter 3

The New York incident happened a few months after Steve came out of the ice and a few months after the Avengers met. Five months later-after fighting smaller groups individually, sometimes teaming up-Ultron happened.

They also gained another two Avengers after gaining Wanda and Pietro. One was created to substitute Ultron with his Sentries but ended up being nice. He chose his name as Vision (It sounded like JARVIS so JARVIS wouldn't speak to him for a while until Tony convinced him that Vision was fine).

The other was a man named T'Challa. He was the Prince of Wakanda where T'Chalka-the King-had agreed to let T'Challa work with the Avenges.

The Avengers continued to work together and helped the other recruits settle in. (They also found out that Clint has a family and it wasn't...all that....surprising. It was surprising though.)

But eight months later, AIM happened.

And it exploded the Avengers' world.

* * *

 

"Where is Tony?" Peter looked at Steve who was unwrapping his hands.

Clint was perched above, holding the webbing that helped hold Peter upside down. Bucky and Natalia were still sparring on the mat. Bruce was hunkered down in the lab below them and Thor was visiting Loki. Wanda and Pietro were messing with each other and Sam and Vision. Rhodey was out on military business as he was still bound by law to enter work.

Pepper was upstairs with Stark Industries stuff. T'Challa was back in Wakanda because his father was killed in an explosion by someone named Klau who stole vibranium (Steve was upset to hear that the only way Howard Stark got the vibranium that made his shield was through someone like Klau. T'Challa assured him that Steve was fine and Wakanda wouldn't hold it against him).

Steve smiled softly at Peter who was looking at him, hummingbird wings fluttering rapidly like they always do (they never stop for more than a second). "He's in Iraq getting rid of some of the illegweaponry. He should be fine."

"Okay..." Peter had almost an addiction to Tony. He adored the man and Steve sometimes caught Tony taking Peter out for small trips in the city (Steve found himself slowly adoring Tony as well).

"Hey-uh Cap?" A voice crackled over the comm and Bucky and Natalia stopped. Sam, Wanda, and Pietro stopped as well and Peter practically flew of the webbing he was on (Luckily, Clint yanked the webbing piece he had before Peter could slam into the wall and hurt himself. The Avengers were all looking out for Peter as carefully as they could).

"Yeah Tones?" Steve looked up at Clint nodding his thanks who tipped his head back in response.

"Uh...we-uh, we might have-have a-uh, a....small problem."

"Oh?" Steve tensed.

"Yeah. Little one-not that big-but uh..." Tony cleared his throat. "I'm gonna need backup."

"Backup?" Clint asked.

"Oh, you can all hear this-great-" Tony fumbled with something. "Uh oh-"

"Tony what's going on?" Natalia asked loudly.

"Shit-Peter, cover your ears-" Peter did as he was told. "Shitshitshit-okay. Okay. We got this-right J?"

"Sir most certainly does not have this." JARVIS's voice came through the comm. Peter unplugged his ears and stared at Clint and Steve, eyes wide.

"Where are you?" Steve demanded.

"I was in Iraq," Tony grunted. "Ow! You know, getting rid of some of the weapons when this-ahhahaha, _fucking ouch!_ -old friend I guess named Aldrich Killian came and tried to join my weapons manufacture through Pepper- _Jesus Christ these guys can hit!_ "

"Can you get to a safe place to explain some more?" Bucky asked, calming Natalia. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Peter drop down-Clint right after him. Peter scrambled over to Steve (he would go to Tony and then Steve if he got scared).

"No-nope-nada-that's a negative." Tony's voice hit a high pitch and there was some whirling of machines. "I can't---guys-----going---not working--this-----bad!"

"Is it shorting out?" Clint asked Bruce who came up with Thor a little while ago.

Bruce frowned, "Yes but it shouldn't be."

"Fir----not your---guys!" Tony's voice was crackling. "Pe--Pet-PEter!"

"Yeah?" Peter's voice was stronger than he looked right now.

"Extremis!----*"

The connection died.

* * *

 

"What's Extremis?" Steve looked at Peter, voice as soft as it could be.

They were in the quinjet, heading to Tony's last known location. Thor, Vision, Bruce, Pepper, Sam, and Rhodey decided to stay behind. So the ones on the mission were Peter, Steve, Bucky, Natalia, Wanda, Clint, and Pietro. They had tried to tell Peter to stay behind but it was a useless effort.

"Extremis was this experimental stuff that-Killian I suppose-was working on." Peter sighed, knees to his chest. "Tony said that the science was so experimental-plus Killian creeped him out-that he convinced Pepper not to hire the guy. But Killian seemed to realize that it was Tony because he was swearing his name as he left Stark Industries. Tony hasn't seen or heard from him since." Peter paused. "Until now, I guess."

"Experimental science?" Natalia frowned. "Like what?"

"Like altering the gene or something." Peter shrugged.

Natalia's brow furrowed. "That could be really dangerous."

"It's why Tony didn't want to keep him." Peter pointed out. "He found the science sketchy and he didn't like that. So he made sure Pepper wouldn't hire that guy."

"You guys," Clint said, pulling up the quinjet. "We're here."

"How?" Peter frowned. "Iraq is practically halfway across the world-"

"The quinjet travels faster than most speeds," Natalia filled in.

"Okay." Steve hefted his shield and looked at everyone. "Let's save Tony."

* * *

 

They did _not_ save Tony.

Instead, they got kidnapped because, la-ti-ta, Aldrich Killian and his Extremisms were waiting for them.

Steve tried to pull down his bonds but Killian clicked at him. "Ah-ah-ah. I wouldn't do that. Those are vibranium-stolen from Klau himself."

"You suck," Peter spat out, glaring. Killian rolled his eyes and gestured to one of the guards who quickly gagged Peter.

Wanda and Pietro were trying to fight out of their bonds but Steve could see them struggling. Wanda looked like she was on the verge of tears and that made sense to Steve because she was probably reading Killian's mind.

It didn't make him feel better though.

"Twins." Natalia growled, glaring at Killian the whole time. "Stop beating yourselves up-you won't get out."

Pietro stopped and Wanda sagged, eyes still watery.

Clint was next to Pietro who was next to Wanda. Next to Wanda was Bucky, then Steve, then Natalia, then Peter. They were in an army carrier plane and had parked the quinjet in the air next to the plane.

There was a loud sound and then a door opened. Killian turned around, grinning as another guard came out with Tony. Tony was bound and gagged, stumbling towards the man and glaring at him. Killian turned back to the Avengers, as if showing off a prize.

"Who would've thought that the great Iron Man was the pitiful Tony Stark?" Killian mused, toying with them. "Surely none of you?" He looked at the Avengers who were stone-cold glaring at him. Killian chucked. "Thought so."

He walked over to Tony and bent down. "You rejected my offer." He sneered. Tony just glared at him. Killian laughed. "You thought it wouldn't work. 'Scary science' you claimed. But guess what, Stark?" Killian whipped out a shot with some sort of liquid in it. the liquid sparked and Steve realized that it looked more like lava than anything else.

Killian grinned madly. "It did." He waited at the Extremises. "These were test subjects and well, they only work for so long. This, though," he gestured to the liquid. "This lasts the rest of your _life_." Killian' grin widened. "And who better to test it than the man who rejected it."

And then he stabbed Tony.

Tony screamed through the gag and fell to his knees. He sucked in a deep breath as Killian removed the shot from his shoulder.

Steve froze. Then, he realized that Natalia had started yelling with Peter (and when did he start?) and Bucky was thrashing. Clint, Pietro, and Wanda were trying to shimmy out of the bonds. Steve was just frozen. He couldn't move.

Tony shook, his eyes closed and his mouth in a tight line. The red-hot-lava like substance seemed to flow through him, underneath his skin until he stopped.

Just, stopped.

Stopped moving, stopped breathing, stopped struggling, stopped _everything_.

Peter screamed.

Natalia stopped yelling and Bucky stopped thrashing. Wanda, Pietro, and Clint stopped moving in their bonds. All of them stared in shock.

Killian sighed. "Well that was disappointing. Throw him." A guard came and dragged Tony's body out the cargo door and everyone simultaneously remembered that they were in the plane and the plane was in the air.

"No!" Peter screamed but too late-

Tony was thrown out.

Peter wailed and most of the Avengers went limp. Wanda started crying, letting the tears fall easily. Bucky hung is head low and Steve gaped. Natalia's face hardened.

Killian snapped his fingers and the guards came and unbound Peter. They dragged him out as he started to thrash and panic.

"Don't you dare!" Natalia snarled, struggling again.

Killian ignored her as Peter was dragged out in front of him. Peter whimpered, struggling as his wings beat as fast as they could. They fluttered around him and Peter seemed to be freaking out.

Killian leaned down and slapped him.

The sound echoed over all the room and Peter fell back. His wings went absolutely still and Killian stood back up. Steve could finally see the glistening blue-multicolored wings. His wings didn't move and Peter looked like he was gasping and afraid.

It was horrifying.

As Killian got another dose ready, everyone stayed silent. Nobody moved and Steve looked at Peter's still wings in sick fascination. They were never still. And seeming them like that was horrible. It was awful.

"Let's see if this works." Killian smiled and walked back to Peter.

Then the roof caved in with a loud BANG.

Shots ran out to the ceiling but they were just deflected back. Someone landed between Peter and Killian. Twenty-four feet wings flared out, knocking Killian off his feet. The left wing was full of red, orange, and gold feathers. They twitched and fluttered glittering in the light of the plane.

The right wing was metal. It was red and gold and orange as well but the feathers and the main structure was all metal. It came out of the person's back, scared around it. They glistened and the tips were sharper than the other wing.

Guards came after the person. The right wing flicked out and metal feathers spray from the wing-hitting the guards' necks and killing them instantly. Killian tried to rise but the metal feathers whipped out and stuck in him until he looked like a porcupine. Killian gurgled, then dropped down, dead.

The wings were still tense and blocked Steve's view from Peter.

"Peter!" Wanda yelled, tear streaked.

The wings turned.

Peter was on the ground, unharmed except for his cheek but shaking in shock. He was breathing hard and his wings were just barely twitching. His wings-which used to move so fast-could possibly never move again.

And the person with the twenty-four foot winspan was none other than Tony.


	4. Chapter 4

"You have wings." Bucky talked first, voice loud and flat.

Tony nodded.

"Can you get us out?" Clint asked, his own wings fluttering.

Tony seemed immobile so Peter shakily got to his feet. He walked over to Clint and unhooked him. Peter seemed out of energy after that because he fell, collapsing. Clint quickly caught him before he could hurt himself anymore. Clint gently set him down and turned to everyone else.

Steve was released and he turned and realized that it was Tony. Steve felt his own wings quivering under the glare of Tony's. Tony looked at Steve's wings and opened his mouth to say something but then closed it.

"Are you okay?" Wanda whispered to Peter. Everyone turned to him. He was lying on the floor when he looked up at Tony.

"Your wings are intimidating." Peter told Tony and promptly passed out.

Natalia turned to Tony. "How do you that?" She demanded.

Tony frowned. "What? Oh...the wing thing? I don't know, I just can."

"We'll figure that out later. Peter's gone into shock and needs medical attention ASAP." Bucky broke in.

"The quinjet's still in the air." Clint said. "I can turn her around to the entrance." Steve nodded and he took off.

"We're not done." Natalia told Tony.

"Yeah," Tony's wings lowered. "I figured."

* * *

 

Peter was going to be fine.

According to Bruce, he had minor heart injuries due to the shock. Killian had hit him so hard that the crack they had heard was actually Peter's cheekbone cracking. Both injuries had healed thanks to his healing factor but he was out cold and had a large purple bruise sporting his cheek.

The Avengers were back at the tower and Bruce shooed all of them away from Peter except for Tony. He couldn't get rid of Tony though because every time he tried, Tony's skin would glow like lava and his twenty-four feet wings snapped open and hovered threateningly, protecting Peter and scaring Bruce's wings (Tony said he couldn't control what his wings did and he felt really bad because everytime his wings did that, everyone else's would cower and wilt).

Since Tony was hole up with Peter, Steve ushered the rest of the team to the main living area to wait. Natalia looked impatient but Bruce promised to let her see Tony when Peter woke up. The part of the team that stayed behind came in a little while later.

"Stark has wings," Sam walked into the room. "Peter is out of commission-what the _hell_ happened!?"

T'Challa, Thor, and Vision came barging in after Sam. Thor's lightning wings were flickering and spasming-halfway between angry and worried. T'challa's black and white wings were twitching but kept a calm demeanor like he always does. Vision looked impassive and only slightly concerned for his comrades. He didn't have wings.

"The AIM mission was unsuccessful." Bucky said flatly.

Sam stared at him. "Yes Buck, clearly the mission went _wrong_! But I want to know _what_ happened!"

"We got to Tony and he was kidnapped by AIM." Natalia debriefed. "We parked the quinjet in the air and jumped onto the AIM plan but we were expected and imprisoned. Killian broke Peter's cheekbone and threw Tony off the side of the plane. Then Tony came back with wings and killed everyone with them."

T'Challa's eyes widened slightly. "He _flew_?"

"He didn't-" Pietro froze. "Oh god. He _did_."

"How could he fly?" Wanda frowned.

"They _are_ wings." Vision gestured.

"Except these are not real wings." Thor rumbled. "They are _soul_ wings."

Steve sighed. "He'll tell us-" he stopped. "Wait what?" He looked at Thor.

"Soul wings." Thor repeated. "They represent one's soul. Their personality." He frowned. "I thought everyone knew that."

"Only a few people can see wings here on Midgard, Thor." Pepper came in, high heels clinking. She looked at all of them, grimly upset. "Tony wanted me to tell you that all of you together are allowed three questions a day. He'll accept four but that's it." Steve had a feeling JARVIS would abide by that.

Steve nodded. "That's good to know." Pietro snorted. Steve shot him a look. "But, I'd like to ask-off the book obviously-a question to you."

Pepper paused but then nodded.

"Why?" Steve asked. Pepper frowned. "Why did he hide his wings?"

Pepper looked down, breathing in deeply. "On the book, I can't say. Off the book-he hates them." She looked up. "He loved his old wings-red, white, and blue-he adored them."

Her eyes softened up and she looked sad. "And then they burned."

* * *

 

"Steeeve-can we spar?" Peter rolled on the top of the couch, moaning.

Three hours ago, Bruce released Peter from the hospital wing with a note that clearly stated-NO PHYSICAL ACTIVITY. Tony, meanwhile was getting interrogated from Natalia ("His stupid 'three questions a day' doesn't apply to me." she snorted).

Steve looked at PEter raising his eyebrows. "You're still recovering Peter. No."

"argh!" Peter threw his hands up. "I'm fine!"

"No, you're not." Bucky said, flicking through channels on the television.

Peter stuck out his tongue. "You guys are no fun."

_Fwipfwipfw--fwip_

Steve turned and saw that Peter's wings had stumbled, causing him in turn to stumble as well. He shot up and glanced at Steve, worriedly. Steve moved his head slightly to pretend he didn't see and Peter ran away. Steve sighed and stared at the TV. Bruce said that Peter's wings would never fully heal.

Hummingbird wings weren't meant to stop fluttering. In the wild, they could pause for a millisecond but they would have to keep going. When Peter's wings stopped, Bruce knew they would never work the same again.

Steve was starting to see what he meant.

Peter's wings sputtered in and out, working only here and there. At times, they would be completely still again and whenever that happened-Peter never moved. His eyes would be glazed over and he'd be staring at nothing. He only jumped back to life when his wings starting beating again.

Bruce had examined Peter and told the rest of the team that his wings had experienced too much trauma and that's why they would never work the same.

"Steve," Pepper's heels clicked into the room again as she popped her head inside. Steve and Bucky looked up. "Tony wants to talk to you."

* * *

 

Tony pushed the huge stack of papers on the table from down in the lab at him. "Here's my resignation."

Steve stared at him. "What?"

Tony waved his hand, walking away. "My resignation from the Avengers? I figured you'd want it now."

"Why would you-?" Steve stopped.

Tony didn't show his wings and now, since he has, he must think Steve wants him gone. Why? His wings were too threatening, he lied to the team, he lied to Steve-Tony must think there's a hundred different reasons why Steve would want him gone.

Except none of them were right.

"...could be a liability-" Tony was saying but Steve interupted him.

"You can throw that hard work away unfortunately." Steve said.

Tony stopped.

Steve sighed. "You're still on the team, Tony. We-I wouldn't do that to you."

Tony opened his mouth and then stopped. He shook his head and put a hand to his forehead. "I lied." He said. "I lied to you, I lied to the team, I lied to myself-and you _still_ want me on the team?" Tony looked at him.

Steve paused and then shrugged. "Yeah."

Tony barked a laugh that seemed a bit like a sob. "I can't believe you Cap. I do everything wrong and you still let me be here."

"You didn't do anything wrong." Steve told him. "You didn't like you wings so you hide them. It's okay."

Tony looked at him, eyes slanted. "Pepper tell you that?"

"Not necessarily."

Tony shook his head. "You're something else, Cap." He sighed and tossed all the papers in a shredder next to the table. "Questions?"

"No." Steve shook his head. "Just taking...taking it in." Steve sighed heavily as Tony turned and sat down at his workbench.

"Well, you're welcome to leave whenever." Tony waved behind him.

Steve nodded and looked at his own golden wings.

They folded on each other and hung loosely from his back. They didn't droop and seemed heathly enough. They fluttered slightly and Steve waited to turn just in case he hit something back accident.

Steve moved to leave when his wings burst with sudden energy, knocking down a chair.

Tony startled and his wings snapped out, knocking the table back next to him. Steve felt his wings tremor but somehow he knew that they had _purposely_ snapped out to knock something over.

Tony and Steve paused as their wings seemed to have minds of their own.

Steve's wings didn't wilt or quiver like they did before under the glare of Tony's. They stretched out to Tony's instead. Tony's wings quivered, twitching slightly as if they were confused.

Steve's wings kept reaching out as far as they could when they stopped. Tony's reached out as well, reaching for Steve's. Steve's wing snapped back when the red metal tip of Tony's touched the tip of Steve's.

As soon as that happened, Steve's wings went back into their normal position. Tony's hovered then wilted down and snapped out existence. Fire came out form the sudden transition and then it was gone.

They stared at each other.

"That was-" they started together but stopped.

Steve cleared his throat. "I'll-I'll go."

Tony nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

* * *

 

Steve was never into girls.

He never _liked_ them that way. Any friend he had that was a girl-Natalia, Peggy, Wanda-all felt like sisters to him. He was never outward about it because nobody talked about it then. Usually, he found himself flustered around other men. More recently, Natalia said that they term for him is 'gay' and that he likes boys.

It does make sense-he liked Bucky for a little bit but that was shut down in his head very quickly because it was obvious that he was going to stay in a relationship with Natalia. He used to like one or two guys on the Howling Commandos and one seemed to notice him and didn't have a problem with it.

But _Tony_.

At first, Tony was that little annoying brother that showed up to things unannounced. He acted that way to and Steve never thought he would care for him more than that.

And then Peter came and Steve got to see a whole new man.

Kind, caring, loving, determined, protective. Everything Steve thought he wasn't. Steve cared for Tony-before as a brother because that's what Tony was to him. But it wasn't until his wing brushed Tony's that he realized he might feel a little bit more.

And the more Steve thought about it, the more in love he started to feel. After working with Tony for almost two years and seeing just who he is-there was just this warm feeling.

He looked down at the drawing he had been working on and realized it was Tony's wings.

He closed the drawing pad and looked out over New York from the Tower. He was out on the balcony and sitting on the edge. He was just thinking about the lab fiasco that had happened moments earlier.

Bucky and Natalia were sparing down in the training room while Vision, Peter, and Wanda were watching TV. Clint had taken Pietro and Sam to visit his family. Thor had taken bruce to Asgard because something happened and Thor needed Bruce. T'Challa had gone back to his home, Tony was in the lab, and Pepper was at Stark Industries.

Natalia and Bucky plopped themselves down next to him. He starled a bit and his wings ruffled but settled down easily.

"You okay?" Natalia asked. Steve nodded, still thinking.

"What are you thinking about, Stevie?" Bucky poked him. He was sweaty, panting, and grinning. Natalia clearly gave him a workout.

"Tony." Steve said and continued to stare off into space.

"What?"

Steve froze because goddamnit did he just say that out loud?

Bucky was blinking and Natalia had leaned back.

 _Crap_.

"I mean-" Steve stumbled and both broke into laughter. Steve went red and waited for them to finish, grumbling.

"Steve," Natalia recovered first. "We're not that dumb. But it's nice of you to finally come out." Steve opened his mouth in surprise.

"Have you talked to him?" Bucky hiccuped, grinning.

"Not exactly..." Steve frowned. "He tried to resign but I didn't let him."

"Resign?" Natalia frowned. "Why would he want to resign?"

Steve shrugged. "There's a lot of reasons."

"For him yeah." Bucky snorted. Natalia rolled her eyes, muttering.

They were silent, thinking.

"So when's the wedding?" Bucky joked. Steve sputtered and turned red while Natalia laughed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Anyone know where Peter is?" Natalia asked, hopping on the kitchen table.

"Said he was going to his aunt's house." Steve tossed her toast and bacon. Pietro, Wanda, and Vision were eating in the lounge. Bucky was sparring air and Tony was stilled holed up in his lab (which he had been for the past three days).

Clint, Thor, Bruce, T'Challa, and Pepper were still out. Clint wanted to stay with his family for another month or two. Thor and Bruce haven't responded to any calls and T'Challa is working out some sort of fumed in Wakanda.

"Do you know when he's getting back?" Bucky grunted and stopped, catching his breath.

"Do I have to know everything?" Steve asked sarcastically.

"You are the Captain!" Pietro called, then cackled. His wings flapped rapidly with humor.

Steve rolled his eyes.

Natalia stared at the elevator, refusing to eat. Bucky watched her carefully and Steve was looking at her too. Steve and Bucky locked eyes. bucky gestured to Nat and Steve shrugged helplessly. Bucky opened his mouth.

"He's in danger." Natalia said aloud and bolted to the stairs.

"What?" Pietro yelped as Bucky took off after her. Wanda and Vision looked up when Steve started for the door.

"Vis, you're in charge." Steve called quickly. "Jarvis, find-"

"Already on it, sir." JARVIS sounded worried as well and Steve grabbed an ear-comm, taking the stairs to the garage.

"Steve?" Bucky tested.

"Here." Steve ran out the back of the garage, barely catching Natalia and Bucky on motorcycles and heading out. Steve hopped on his own and followed. "Jarvis? Peter's location?"

"Rose Hill...Tennessee, sir." JARVIS sounded unsure.

Steve stopped the bike. "Sorry, what did you say?"

"Rose Hill, Tennessee, sir." JARVIS said. "Running scan again."

"Why would-?" Bucky started then rephrased. "How the _hell_ did he get in Tennessee?"

"I don't know." Steve's mind was whirling. "I don't know how, I don't know why-"

"He's definitely in Tennessee." JARVIS chipped in.

"That's not-" Bucky started.

Natalia's voice was cold as ice as she broke the news through the comm, " _May Parker confirmed dead."_

* * *

  _May Parker confirmed **dead.**_

_**Dead.** _

Steve jogged down to the lab and knocked on the door. "Tony. We have an emergency-"

_Fwoom!_

Steve startled and his wings shot out behind him. "Jar-"

JARVIS unlocked the door.

Steve ran in and found Tony on the ground. A hole was blasted on the other side and lava seemed to leak out. Steve hurried over to Tony and attempted to help him up. Steve pulled away though because his hands practically burned.

Tony looked up at him. "Yeah, don't do that." His eyes had small flickering flames of fire inside them. His body looked like it was burning, moving underneath his skin.

"Is that-?" Steve started.

"Extremis?" Tony stood and brushed himself off. Steve stood with him and both of them looked at the hole. "Yeah. That too."

"Ah."

"Anyway." Tony grunted, turning and pushing a fallen workbench back up. "What's up?" Tony had cooled down (literally) and started putting stuff back.

"May Parker is dead and Peter is in Tennessee," Steve remarked, still staring at the hole.

"What?"

Steve turned to Tony staring at him with wide eyes. "Yeah. That's the emergency."

Tony started to freak out. "Why! Did you not say something!? Where is he? Is he okay? What happened? What's going to happen to him?"

"Wha-?" Steve's head buzzed. "Natalia, Bucky and I are going to get him. We wanted to know if you wanted to come with us. We're leaving now."

"Yes." Tony said automatically. "Let's go.

* * *

 Peter was fine.

According to him, these men came to his house and killed his aunt. They were still there when he came to visit his aunt and kidnapped him. They took him to Tennessee where he escaped them. He ended up being near a police station where the men were taken after he escaped.

He ran away to an orphanage and stumbled inside (of course) finding a friend. The friend was about a year younger than Peter, who is sixteen and his name was Harley Keener. Harley let Peter into the garage beneath the orphanage.

When the Avengers showed up, Harley begged saying he only had two years before he'd be kicked to the curb. Peter chipped in and Tony did too-after admiring Harley's work lab.

Steve gave up and let him come back to the tower.

Three days later, Tony adopted Harley and Peter. 

* * *

 

Steve looked at his drawing of Tony's wings.

He peered at them closely, trying to recognize where he's seen them before other than the fact that they're Tony's wings. Steve doesn't think when he draws something. He just draws based on the image in his memory and Tony's wings were specific in the image.

They reminded him of some bird...

"Hey Steve." Speaking of which, Tony came into the room, looking tired.

"Hey Tony." Steve didn't look up. "How're Harley and Peter?"

"In the lab." Tony mumbled, pouring coffee. "Oh. They're okay-doing good."

Steve smiled. "Good to hear." He studied the picture again as they fell into silence.

"Phoenix!" Steve yelped, jumping in his seat. Tony jumped behind him. "They're phoenix wings!"

"Who's are?" Tony yawned.

"Yours!" Steve pointed at him. Tony paused.

"What?" He frowned.

"Your wings are Phoenix wings." Steve repeated.

"How do you know that?" Tony walked over to Steve.

Steve cleared his thorat. "I drew them."

Tony stopped. "You drew my wings?"

Steve nodded.

"Why?" Tony furrowed his brow.

"Because they're beautiful." Steve blurted.

Tony reeled back, stunned.

Then he shook his head. "No. They aren't." He turned to leave.

"Tony." Steve caught his wrist over the couch. "They are _wonderful_."

"You only saw them twice!" Tony spat, yanking his hand back. "You don't know what beautiful is if you think that they're-"

"I know what beatific is because I'm looking at it." Steve interrupted.

Tony recoiled.

There was a tense silence as they let what they just said sink in. Tony looked confused and panicked. Steve meanwhile was thinking about what he said and realized it was true.

 _"'The Phoenix must burn to emerge_ '." Steve recalled.

"What?" Tony snapped, staring at the ground.

"It's a quote by Janet Fitch." Steve explained. "I think..that's why you got those wings. It's because...first-you burned." Steve looked at Tony, searching his eyes. "Then you came out a phoenix-stronger."

Tony closed his eyes.

Steve sighed. "Think about it, okay? Those wings mean something. Be proud of them."

He walked into the hallway, leaving Tony with his thoughts.

* * *

 

Harley and Peter were starting to cause trouble.

Peter's wings had been picking up speed since Harley showed up. They were still slow and still stopped but when ehtye were going they went for at least an hour.

Harley's wings were like a blue bird's except emerald green (Harley could see wings and was relieved when everyone said they could see wings too. Harley didn't explain why, but the scars and bruises on his arms and back spoke volumes).

The first day the Terrible Two because terrible, they blew up the lab.

The next day, they blew up the training room.

The day after that, they blew up the lounge.

The fourth day, Tony banned them from fireworks.

* * *

 "Steve." Bucky leaned over the couch and Steve's ears perked up. "Would you...be my best man?"

Steve stopped drawing.

"I mean-" Bucky stumbled.

"No." Steve said quickly. "No, Buck-I'd love to!"

Bucky froze. "Seriously?"

Steve grinned. "Hell yes!"

Bucky grinned and laughed. "Don't say anything yet. Nat and I want to-"

"NATASHA'SMARRYINGBUCKY! NATASHA'SMARRYINGBUCKY!" Pietro zoomed back, repeating the mantra over and over as Bucky stumbled to the side from the force of him running.

"Goddamnit." Bucky cursed and ran after the older Maximoff as Steve laughed.

* * *

 

The wedding was small. Natalia dressed herself up and Pepper was her maid of honor. It was just the Avengers and Natalia didn't want anything fancy (Bucky didn't care, he just wanted to get married).

For the wedding party, it got a little bit bigger because more friends and family of the Avengers showed up. Some civilians showed up too but they stayed out of the way of other people.

At the party, Steve was drawing the moment, smiling the whole time. Honestly, they should've done this years ago.

"Drawing again, huh?"

Steve looked up and felt his wings flutter.

Tony was standing in front of him, holding a glass of water. He had a dark blue suit on and his wait was styled like it was windswept backwards. He was sporting a small smile and he seemed nervous.

But the thing that threw off Steve was his wings.

Tony's wings were out, the twenty-four feet of it draped behind him like a wedding train. Most people avoided them but occasionally someone would step on his wings and they would snap back, nearly tripping Tony.

"Steve?" Tony looked at him, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, uh, yeah." Steve recovered quickly. "Yeah, I...I do it...drawing a lot..." Tony smirked.

"Distracted?" He purred. Steve jolted.

"Come over here and find out." the words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them and they stared at each other.

Then Tony's wings snapped back with enough force so that Tony stumbled forward and fell into Steve's lap.

They looked at each other and then more words spilled out of Steve's damn mouth. "I'm distracted, but you look really eager."

Tony went red. "W...wow. Didn't realize you had such a naughty mouth."

"Well," Steve hoisted Tony further onto his lap and whispered in his ear. "Why don't you help me get rid of that?"

Tony seemed froze. Inside his head, Steve was laughing from shock and Tony's face. He was shocked that it was so easy to make Tony-the Tony Stark, _notorious_ flirt-panic and stop speaking.

Steve pulled away abruptly. "But first you can bring me to a movie."

Tony stuttered.

"See, _this_ is part of the reason why we got married." Bucky stood over them, triumphantly crossing his arms. Natalia was with him but smirked and left to go talk to Wanda.

Tony spluttered and went even redder (if that was possible).

* * *

 The first date was a Star Wars marathon down in the lab. Tony stumbled a lot and stuttered and went red a ton. It was only a day after the wedding though so Steve didn't blame him for any of that.

The next was at the old diner Steve used to go to. This time, roles were reversed. Tony had recovered his wits and was flirting with Steve while Steve lost all that and was stumbling, turning red, and stuttering.

And then they got into any easy rhythm of flirting with each other.

* * *

 

"Steve?" Tony stared at the sky.

"Mm?" Steve's voice was muffled by the pencil in his mouth as he smudged a bit of the drawing.

"Do you want to learn how to fly?" Tony continued.

Steve broke his pencil.

Tony sat up quickly and glanced at Steve. He was staring at him, with wide eyes.

"Fly?" He frowned. "Like, with...our wings?"

Tony slowly nodded.

Steve stared at Tony. He had been drawing Tony as they were sitting in Central Park. Tony was wearing a button up white shirt and black pants. His hair was windswept as always and it moved in the light breeze.

Steve went more incognito-wearing a gray plaid shirt with a tan army jacket. He had sunglasses on and his drawing pad.

Tony had gone to get ice cream, then came back and Steve turned to a different page as Tony laid his head in Steve's lap.

"So...do you want to?" Tony's voice brought him out of his thoughts and he blinked.

"What? Oh yeah," Steve said quickly and tony grinned.

"Let's go!" He said and grabbed Steve's arm, pulling away from Central Park and to the abandoned docks on Long Island Sound.

It took only a few minutes with Tony's wings adding little bursts of wind behind them to get to the docks. The different abandoned warehouses lined up along the dock.

"Okay." Tony forced him to stop. "Give me one second..."

Steve rolled his eyes, smiling. Since their third or fourth date, Tony always acted like a little hyperactive four year old around Steve. And only Steve. He was still a bit of a sarcastic ass around everyone else (except for Harley and Peter).

That's why Steve would steal take him on as many dates as much as he could. Because he loved Tony when he wasn't being an ass around everyone else.

"That one." Tony pointed. "That's where we're jumping off." And he grabbed Steve's arm and pulled him towards whatever building he had pointed at.

Steve wanted to say something but Tony was at the building, hopping up and grabbing loose bricks. Steve sighed and followed, using his wings to help him balance.

When they reached the top, Tony went straight to the edge and looked down. "It's about twenty feet down." He decided.

Steve looked down and swallowed. "Tony, babe, that's high-oof!"

Steve pinwheeled his arms as a gust of wing nearly forced him off the edge. He whirled around and stared up after catching a flash of red.

There was Tony, his wings snapped out to their full wingspan. In one flap he was already at least ten feet above Steve and blocked out the sun. The only thing Steve could see was the outline of Tony, the parts of the sun that weren't blocked, and Tony's wings.

Steve stared in awe for a moment before Tony abruptly moved.

He dived below the building and called out to Steve, "Just jump and flap your wings!"

"Yeah that's helpful." Steve yelled back. He heard Tony laugh.

Steve took a deep breath as his wings spread behind him. He closed his eyes as he did this and stood on the edge.

And jumped.

Steve felt his wings spread out further and try and flap. But they didn't make any noise or progress. Steve decided he must've been too heavy to lift for his wings.

Instead, his wings just hovered and spread, letting him land softly on the ground. He landed and turned to see Tony frowning.

"Goddamnit." Tony muttered. "It looks like your wings just didn't carry you-"

But Steve wasn't listening and he took two long strides to reach Tony. He leaned in and kissed him.

Tony quickly shut up and just stood there as Steve slowly pulled away. But then Tony launched on him and kissed him harder than before. They're mouths moved in sync and Tony moaned as Steve pulled him closer.

Steve broke away to breath and placed his forehead on Tony's. "Thank you for trying."

Tony laughed breathlessly. "That was our first kiss."

Steve smiled. 

* * *

 

Steve tugged on the bonds, gritting his teeth in anger. He looked around on the space rock they were on. They could see the galaxy and it would be pretty if they weren't tied up.

Tony, Natalia, Bucky and T'Challa were on the right of him. Thor, Bruce, Sam, Pietro, and Wanda were to the left of him. Thor was missing an eye and beard. Bruce was shaking and looking close to hulking out.

Pietro and Sam were caked in blood and dirt, Wanda was crying because Vision was dead and Thor, Natalia, Bucky, and Pietro looked furious. Tony was struggling trying to reach Harley and Peter whose were in cages a few feet away. He didn't want to loose them after Rhodey, Happy, and Pepper were killed protecting the other Avengers back on Earth.

A group of people called the Guardians of the Galaxy were across from them. Gamora was a green lady, Rocket was a raccoon, Groot was a tree, Drax was this gray and red alien, Nebula was blue, Mantis had wide black eyes, and the only human (Half-human) on their team was Peter Quill or Star-Lord.

The men next to them were Doctor Strange and Wong. They were wizards apparently. Loki was over by them, looking upset and scared. Next to them were ar least five other aliens. Steve were pretty sure they were called Ebony Maw, Proxima Midnight, Black Dwarf, and Corvus Glaive.

The man in the middle was a Titan called Thanos.

He had a Gauntlet in his hand. It was gold and had six stone in it. According to Strange and Tony, the stones were Infinty Stones; Time, Reality, Space, Power, Mind, and Soul. The Tesseract was the Space Stone and Vision was the Mind Stone.

These stones could control the universe as they _made_ the universe.

And a man in love with Death has them all.

"Who to kill first?" Thanos mused, scanning around them. "Let's start big, shall we?" He stood as the Avengers, Doctor Strange and the Guardians watched in horror. Thanos turned to a planet and extended the Gauntlet upward.

"No!" Thor and Star-Lord shouted as Thanos grasped air and pulled down.

Steve reared when a light exploded from the Gauntlet and hit the planet. When Steve looked back, all that was there was rubble floating in the air.

Steve stared in shock and looked at Tony. Tony was blank-faced and pale.

"Now far something smaller." Thanos turned back and-without warning-blasted Steve.

Steve gasped.

He heard a scream.

He couldn't breath.

His heart stopped.

His eyes closed...


	6. Chapter 6

 

...and opened again.

Steve gasped, sucking as much air in as possible. He looked around, holding his chest and kneeling down.

Everyone was free and Thanos and his children were dead.

"Steve!"

He looked and almost stopped breathing again.

There was Tony, wings spread and tear-streaked. He was holding the Infinty Gauntlet though and Steve recalled Gamora saying that if anyone tried to hold even one stone, they would die.

And Tony was holding _all six of them_.

"How-how-?" Steve gasped, staggering to his feet. Tony ran over to him and hugged tightly. He was shaking with energy and a low hum vibrated from his body to Steve's.

"You died." Tony whispered, crying. "I had to-to do _something_ -"

" _You_ couldn't died!" Steve argued. "How are you holding-?"

"We don't know." Natalia walked forward, looking shaken. "Gamora said to watch him though. Some of Thanos' children escaped so the Guardians had to high-tail it out of here." Natalia added.

Peter and Harley ran over to Tony and Steve. Peter hugged Tony and didn't let go so Harley walked over to Steve and stayed by him.

"Strange is getting us home." Bucky hugged Steve tightly. "You gave us a heart attack _pank_." Steve gave a small smile. "And _Tony_ ," Bucky looked at Tony and Steve raised his eyebrows. "Grabbed the fucking Gauntlet and sent us all into a panic only for him to kill Thanos."

Steve's eyes widened and Tony pulled Peter onto his tip toes to hide his face.

Steve shook his head and looked around. He found both Strange and Wong working on a portal hopefully to home. Bruce was leaning on Thor and Thor was hugging Loki who didn't look like he was complaining. In fact, he was leaning into Thor, looking scared and shaken.

Sam, Clint, and Pietro were consoling Wanda as best they could. Vision-her boyfriend-was dead for good and he couldn't come back. T'Challa was there standing next to them, standing over them like a guard-especially near Sam.

Steve looked at Tony. Tony's wings had settled back down and his body heat was Donne as well. Extremis seemed to have dissipated after Tony grabbed the gauntlet. At least, that's what Seve guessed.

Instead the Gauntlet seemed to have given him a different power. It shrunk to fit Tony's hand like a glove. Tony and Bucky had both moved to remove it (with Peter over-seeing) but it just stuck to Tony's hand.

"Steve." Tony complained. "Hel me out here, will ya?"

Steve rolled his eyes and walked over to them. Steve pulled but it refused to move and instead Tony tripped into Steve.

Tony's arms wrapped around Steve's neck and he smirked, "Hello soldier."

Steve laughed. "Yeah, that's not coming off Shellhead."

Tony frowned. "Shellhead?"

"Your helmet?" Steve unwrapped Tony's limbs from his body and tapped his head. "So...Shellhead."

Tony rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say babe."

"Your pet names are cute." Bucky giggled and Tony slapped him.

"We got it!" Harley crowed. Steve looked and realized that Harley ran over to Strange and Wong. The portal was up and ready for all of them. They filed up and started heading out when Tony turned to Steve.

"Will you marry me?" He blurted.

Steve stopped and Bucky, Natalia, and Clint whirled to him.

Steve gaped. "Tony..."

Tony slapped his face. "I shouldn't have said anything..."

"No, you shouldn't have." Steve told him and the other three looked at him, in shock and surprise. "Because I was going to ask _you_!"

Tony froze. "Oh."

"Would one of you just say yes so we can go home?" Harley spoke up, raising his eyebrows. Peter grinned with him. It turned out that everyone had stopped walking in to watch the two o them.

Steve and Tony said yes at the same time.

* * *

 

"Steve." Bucky tapped Steve's shoulder and he looked over at him. "We might have a problem."

The only people at the wedding were the Avengers. Docto Strange was there as well and had become a consultant for the Avengers.

At least ten minutes before, the problem was the Guardians had dropped in unannounced. They said that they had heard about the wedding and decided to drop in. Which was nice, it just caused more work for all of them.

Steve sighed, "A group of mutants came in and heard about the wedding and now we need more seats?"

Bucky looked at him weirdly. "What? No. Nat's dressing Tony in a dress."

Steve paused.

And then laughed.

"Really?" He chuckled. "That's cool."

Bucky smirked, amused. "Wait 'till I tell Tony that-"

"No-" Steve jumped in. "You will not-"

The doors opened and Tony came in with Natalia.

Everyone stood and the music started as Steve gaped.

Tony had his hair styled back in his usual windswept style. A gold ban was pushed in and held a white train behind him. It was beautiful but...

He was wearing a dress.

The dress was white and had long sleeves but strapless. They cut off at the elbow. It was tight to his body until mid-waist when it trailed out in the back. Gold jewels were pinned along the back and Tony was slightly red.

He was absolutely _stunning_.

Steve just stared as Bucky hide a smile behind him. Tony rushed the walk a bit, embarrassed, while Natalia looked at him with triumph.

"This is horrible." Tony fumed under his breath as the priest began the ceremony. "I can't believe-"

"You're beautiful." Steve blurted, interrupting. He was still staring at Tony.

Tony went beet red. "Really?"

"Of course." Steve smiled. He looked at the priest who was gesturing to him and he quickly said, "I do."

The priest repeated the sentence to Tony and he smiled softly. "I do."

"Then I pronounce you husband and husband." The priest announced and everyone cheered.

Tony leaned forward. "I burned for you and emerged stronger."

Steve smiled. "You're a phoenix. _My_ Phoenix."

 

  
••• ** _Fin_** •••


End file.
